The Crumbling Stage
by Crazylazy007
Summary: The Einzbern family decides to give the Magus Killer a second chance but this new War requires a new hero. A for want of a (what-if-Shirou-had-been-trained-by-both-the-Magus -Killer-and-the-Einzbern-family-in-order-to-be- awesome-in-the-next-Holy-Grail-War) nail story. Phew.
1. Chapter 1

The snow bit at his hands relentlessly, eating away at any feeling there.

It did not hurt.

The freezing winds that blew violently continued to remove the warmth from his face.

It did not hurt.

The frigid mounds of gathered snow on the ground stripped away at the use of his feet, cold water seeping in with every passing moment he stood there.

It did not hurt.

The man known as Kiritsugu Emiya would not feel pain as long as it remained physical. No matter what it was he would endure it through with his casual indifference that came so easily to him. Within the cold façade however, lay a broken man in a pitiful state that most could not even begin to imagine. For no matter who the person in question is, none are spared from the horrors of war without losing a piece of themselves in the process. For this man who had lost so much, his suffering would not cease and life would continue to take more from him. For someone so used to loss, one would expect the individual in question to hold nothing in regard as little more than a tool to be used. Such was not the case this time.

Illyasviel von Einzbern.

A child like any other and yet exceptionally unique at the same time was the sole purpose that drove the Magus Killer to the lengths that brought him to the white barren no man's land that lay in front of him, for there was none other in the world that could be called his child.

Such had been the case before but it was not so now.

"Hey old man, are we here?" asked a boy who stood next to the imposing figure of Kiritsugu Emiya. What was most noticeable was the difference in height between them, the boy appearing to be no older than eight and a wisp of red hair that was visible from under the thick hood he wore. Like the older man next to him he appeared to wear several layers of clothes to protect himself from the present weather.

Kiritsugu spared him a look and answered, "Yes, here we are Shirou." It was a sight he had seen many times in the past and to the untrained eye, many would dismiss it as such. However, for those with the gift of magic the illusion was easy to see through, for in front of him lay the Einzbern Castle, towering above the great forest it was concealed behind. Many times before he had simply to continue to walk ahead and he would find himself within the confines of their establishment. Sadly, like many times before this was not one of those times. Time and time again he had been rejected from entering the confines of the Einzbern Castle ever since the incident known as the Holy Grail War.

It was Kiritsugu's greatest failure and likewise it had cost him greatly. The result took away his wife, cut him off from his daughter, shattered his dream, and would eventually take his life as well. Out of all of those he could only attempt to recover one, and those attempts had so far been unsuccessful for the past six months. Those times, he had tried again and again to break though the castle's defenses and bounded fields to reach his daughter to no avail. His slowly decaying Magical Circuits did him no favors there as well, and he knew very well that he would only have a few more attempts where he could use them to their best potential before they became little more than dead weight that would only serve to rush him to his death.

This time was different however, for he had not come alone and most important of all he was not planning to attempt another rescue attempt. He did not know what it was exactly that had convinced to do so but he had brought Shirou with him. The boy had simply not surrendered in his attempts to learn where the former assassin traveled to so frequently and he had already been made aware of the existence of magic. Perhaps it was because he was a child and not yet accustomed to the realities imposed on the rest of the world, but Shirou had no trouble believing his new parental figure.

Learning to wield magic had been another issue entirely. Not to mention his initial reluctance in imparting such knowledge, but considering the circumstances in which they had met he could not help but have a soft spot for the boy. Despite the initial surprise of having found the child to house twenty seven natural circuits, getting him to grasp the basics and apply them had been a difficult ordeal for the Magus Killer for he was no teacher himself, merely a practitioner of the arts. Still, he had made some progress there, enough for Shirou to be able to detect the presence of bounded fields at least since he appeared to be staring in the general direction of the Einzbern Castle in great contemplation as if he were trying to make something out of the surrounding forest in front of him.

"It's beautiful." Shirou finally said, having taken his time to find and describe the scenery in front of him. It was a towering structure of great fortitude that was built to last and blended in perfectly with the perpetual snow, and yet it held an aura of elegance that did not fail to impress the young boy who had yet to see anything like it.

Kiritsugu merely acknowledged Shirou's comment with a nod, not quite sure himself of what to feel about the sight in front of him. In times past, he had merely spared a glance or two at the building and carried on with his duties seeing it as little more than his current headquarters. Now however, it had come to represent more than that. At one point it had been where he had met the woman he would take his wife and where his daughter had spent her first happy years with him. The good memories were there but the course of events that had transpired between then and now had changed his view of the place entirely. Now it was little more than a prison that housed his daughter from him due to the influence of a stubborn old man who would not listen to the truth. As he stared long and hard into the white abyss before him he had no idea that the same was being done by the man he currently despised the most.

* * *

Jubstacheit von Einzbern. The current head of the Einzbern family stared long and hard into the forest, eyeing the tall dark figure that stood there today from the balcony of his castle. It was not an unusual sight not as of late particularly seeing as how the man had yet to cease his attempts to break in, but that was that not what surprised him today. The elderly magus took notice of the second figure standing next to the Magus Killer and focused his interest there instead, seeing as how it was not someone he was familiar with. He found it to be a particularly interesting sight considering who it was that was standing next to the child. Was it another assistant of his like that woman he had heard of who usually worked with him prior to his recruitment into the Einzbern family? The man's methods of assassination as well as the tools for their execution were far from the norm after all. Filled with curiosity he continued to watch over them to see what it was that the Magus Killer would do this time. Surely by this point he had already abandoned all hope of ever reaching the homunculus child of his hadn't he?

"He's quite the stubborn individual isn't he?" asked a voice from behind the Einzbern Head. It belonged to an elderly magus who wore a similar outfit to Jubstacheit, but lacked the cold piercing gaze that was always worn by the current head. The long silver hair that reached to his shoulders was there as well, although he lacked the white beard that stood out prominently in the man before him.

Jubstacheit did not spare the other magus in the room and merely nodded in acknowledgment. "Persistent pests are always the worst kind." Nothing of interest appeared to be unfolding before him so after a few moments he turned to the guest in his room. "What brings you here Gerhart?"

"The same person that has your attention I'm afraid," Gerhart answered while nearing the balcony eventually coming to a stop once he stood next to the man.

Jubstacheit would not allow himself to snort loudly at that but allowed himself a caustic smirk instead. "I was not aware that the actions of a mere failure would intrigue you so much."

Gerhart had the decency not to roll his eyes at the comment regarding Kiritsugu Emiya as a failure when Jubstacheit had been singing a completely different tune prior to the beginning of the 4th War. One failure was all it took to change that and little would convince Jubstacheit otherwise. However…

"Oh I care nothing for his attempts to take back the homunculus child of his," Gerhart shrugged, eyeing two figures that stood out before him, far away into the forest. "But the message I found on one of his familiars was particularly interesting."

Jubstacheit furrowed his brows in curiosity, "Do tell."

"_The Grail is tainted." _

Jubstacheit's gaze grew harsh upon hearing that and he waited for the man to continue for a few moments before finally asking, "Is that all?"

Gerhart chuckled sheepishly, "Well that was all we were able to recover from the message when the homunculi guards did their job." He found it amusing actually to learn that a simple bat familiar had made it so far inside the Einzbern residence before meeting a grisly end via a gigantic battle axe.

Jubstacheit did not share the same sentiments as Gerhart however, if his silence and piercing gaze was anything to go by. He briefly considered getting rid of the guards for their lack of efficiency before filing the thought for later. Homunculi did not come by cheaply after all, even to those who excelled in manufacturing them. "The man speaks nonsense, if such were the case why did he choose to inform us now and not before?" To the elder magus this was little more than a pathetic excuse to allow him entrance and he thought of himself as clever for spotting it.

"That may be so Acht," Gerhart said, calling him by his nickname, "but it does sound like a weak excuse to me if that were the case. Also… surely you haven't forgotten about Avenger have you?"

Jubstacheit grimaced at the mention of the word 'Avenger'. If one looked back far enough or lived long enough, as was the case for him, one could find several failures among the history of the Einzbern. Starting with the loss of their fabled Third Magic, their next greatest loss was during the Third Grail War where they had attempted to break the rules to summon a superior servant that would award them the Holy Grail. Needless to say, such was not the result and instead they were dealt nothing more than an exceedingly mediocre servant that had failed to even make it past half of the War. If that had been the end of it, it would have been a small blessing in disguise but no such fortune was present. The vessel for the Grail itself had been lost during that conflict causing the entire remainder of the War to become little more than a bloodbath for a prize that no longer existed.

Gerhart continued, "Right after that incident, I couldn't quite place it at the time but something felt…off."

"Off?" Jubstacheit asked disbelievingly, "Surely you do not believe the obvious trickery that comes from this man!? And if so why did not speak of this sooner!?

Gerhart sighed inwardly, having already predicted that this is how Jubstacheit would react. "At the time it was little more than a minor setback caused by the early destruction of the Grail that would correct itself with due time." He did not add that at the time Jubstacheit was furious enough to strike down anyone in his vicinity and had cost the Einzberns a handful of homunculi in his rampage, a statistic that he did not wish to become part of at the time. "Unfortunately that was not how it turned out."

A silence so thick that one could slice it with a knife followed soon, neither man spoke a word for their eyes said plenty. One held a mask of neutrality to mask his true emotions while the other felt no such restraint and glared hard at the other, letting his anger visibly show on his face. It continued on for a while before the Einzbern head finally decided to turn his attention back to the two unwelcome guests who remained rooted on the spot far ahead of him. He thought long and hard about his next course of action. It would be simple to just ignore the current revelation as a mere coincidence of sorts that simply happened to match with what the Magus Killer had said. Gerhart could be punished for his silence and Emiya would continue to remain little more than a hindrance with his unexpected appearances until he finally gave up.

And yet what if he spoke the truth? The thought bothered him greatly, and he had not lived to this age by not heeding his instinct at crucial times like these. The last time he had chosen to ignore them had resulted in the loss of the Third Grail War, and that was a result he never wished to see repeated again. He closed his eyes and sighed audibly enough for the other man to hear. "Send them in."

Those words caught Gerhart off guard and he let it show, "Pardon me?" Jubstacheit fixed a glare on him and Gerhart soon found that he did not need to hear the man repeat himself twice. "Right away." He nodded in acknowledgment and left the room soon enough.

Jubstacheit looked back at the two individuals who would soon be entering his castle, an event that he would have never expected to see again in his lifetime. Even so he recognized the situation as it was, and if something were to be wrong with the Grail he could simply not afford that to happen, not after having been witness to so many failures in the span of his leadership. Anything less than victory for the next Holy Grail War was simply unacceptable to the man and the Third Magic had eluded them long enough. If it turned out to be nothing then the perfect opportunity would arise to tie up the loose end known as Kiritsugu Emiya. In his mind nothing would change greatly even if Emiya were correct.

Oh how wrong he was.

* * *

**Phew well there it is Chapter 1 of The Crumbling Stage, where it will all begin for Shirou Einzb- er I mean Shirou Emiya. Jubstacheit is from canon if you're curious but Gerhart is not because I will need a more open minded mage to make this story work cuz mages being well…mages aren't really so much for the forgive and forget approach. And we all know that if Acht had been left to make the final decision himself without any other things factoring in this fic would never take place. That's y it's a what if fic duh. I got the idea after seeing all sorts of Shirous in fanfiction including Shirou Kotomine and Shriou Aozaki so why not this one? Review if you have the time and let me know what you think. Pairings will be ShirouxEVERYONE, nah jk lol... or am I? o_O**

**Until next time Crazylazy007 out.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Magus Killer was no stranger to peril, having put his life on the line time after time during the plethora of missions he had once completed. Although he was far from his peak condition, such experiences had marked him and allowed him to gauge the potential dangers of the many situations that he would find himself in, a particularly useful ability that had not left him yet. Currently it was being put to good use once again with the appearance of the man in front of him.

It was not a good situation to be in. Although he had unexpectedly appeared alone, none could say that was truly the case or that it would remain so for much longer. Kiritsugu recognized the familiar outfit and appearance that resembled Jubstacheit, exponentially increasing the risk that the man posed. Although the Magus Killer had come prepared for a surprise encounter with a homunculus or two even he had not expected old man Acht to send one of their heaviest hitters so soon without any provocation on his part. It spoke volumes of just how badly the man wanted him dead Kiritsugu believed, and he was not wrong at least not on that matter.

On the other hand, Gerhart continued to stand his ground, visibly relaxed just after revealing himself to the two individuals in front of him. A common man would have done just the opposite after finding himself not too far away from the point blank range of a Glock pistol but he was not such. Still he was apprehensive enough not to do anything that would spurn the man into action, considering who the assassin in front of him was. Gerhart then focused his attention on the boy next to the man, and saw nothing intriguing or particularly dangerous there that would warrant his attention so it begged the question, why bring him here at all?

Noticing the length of silence that had passed between them, Gerhart finally decided to get straight to the point, having never been one for beating around the bush himself. "Jubstacheit wishes to speak to you." Another bout of silence followed as the Magus Killer processed the words that had just been spoken. His cold expression did not betray him but within him raged a storm of questions. However, one question rose above all others.

"Why now?"

"Well," Gerhart answered, "that's what happens when you decide to send a cryptic message such as _The Grail is Tainted_ to the individuals responsible for it." He finished with a tint of sarcasm in his tone, hoping to evoke some sort of response from the blank face in front of him. No success there however, for Kiritsugu had long slipped into his Magus Killer persona, one that allowed little use for emotions.

Kiritsugu fired off another question instead, aiming to draw as much information as he could from the Einzbern in front of him, "Where is my daughter?"

Gerhart gave a tired sigh in response. "Unfortunately for you, I lack the time to answer your questions." He snapped his fingers and not a second later three homunculi appeared from all three sides surrounding the Emiya duo completely with Gerhart at the front, all dressed in the traditional white uniform that marked them as guards. Kiritsugu gave a small grimace, cursing himself for not being prepared for a situation like this. Had he been alone the possibility of escape would still be available to him with the flash grenade that he kept on his person at all times, however with Shirou here that was not possible. He simply saw no other way than to accept the Einzbern's terms unless he wished for harm to come to Shirou should the worst case scenario occur. Having been responsible for the child's loss of his parents, memories and for the injuries brought about by the great fire that ravaged his home, Kiritsugu would not allow any further harm to come to him.

"_We_ will go with you." He lowered his gun and put it away in his inner coat pocket, finally eliciting a response of from Shirou, who had been too surprised to do anything but stand still and watch the current events unfold.

Gerhart raised a brow in amusement, not expecting the Magus Killer to accept so easily but then again even he would be hard pressed in a situation like this and with dead weight to carry too he thought, eyeing the boy who would be entering the castle with them soon enough. "Very well then."

And with that they left.

* * *

Inside the Einzbern castle, within one of the more lavish rooms sat three white haired men dressed in similar elaborate robes, all involved in a different type of confrontation that required oratory skills rather than magical skill. Each one had his own chair with a great distance between each one of them as they sat around a large well-crafted white table adorned with many decorations ranging from golden inscriptions that resembled runes to the more exotic handiwork done to make it look like a crystallized snowflake, with six edges to it.

"This is foolish, we should kill the man and be done with it," spoke Aldric von Einzbern, a leading figure in the Department of Mineralogy in the Clocktower. He had no reason to like the Magus Killer and even less so after his repeated attempts to break into their castle.

"I do not disagree with you there Aldric but we should ascertain if there is anything wrong with the Grail first before we make that judgment," said Markus von Einzbern who held prominent connections with the Sea of Astray. While he shared Aldric's thoughts on the Magus Killer's fate, he was a pragmatic person first and foremost, unlike the former who relied too much on spurn of the moment decisions.

The third man in the room rubbed his temples in annoyance at the constant bickering caused by the two in front of him, "You are correct, we know too little. But to allow that man in our company once again…It is deplorable," Jubstacheit finished with a grimace, finding the situation too unpleasant for his tastes. Still, even if he did not like it, it was something that needed to be done. The inclusion of the two other important figures had been necessary due to the potential gravity of the situation at hand. Typically a situation like this would require the presence of all six of them. However, given how the remaining two were unavailable at the moment, it would have to suffice with the three of them. Gerhart would have been included among them but given the revelation about his blunder, it was for the best if he continued to remain out of sight.

The door leading into the room opened and a homunculus maid walked in at that moment gathering the attention of all those present. "The guest you have requested for is here."

The three men remained silent, until Jubstacheit finally spoke, "Bring him in then." The maid bowed in response and exited the room. The time to decide the fate of the Magus Killer had come and while they each had their own thoughts on the matter at hand, they could all agree on one thing.

This was going to be a long discussion.

* * *

The maid appeared in front of the two Emiyas and beckoned the older one to follow her. Kiritsugu remained apprehensive about the whole situation he was in and he shot a look towards the Einzbern senior that stood not too far from him leaned against a wall. Gerhart met the man's gaze and immediately knew what he was going to ask, "You have my word that no harm shall come to the boy." Kiritsugu noticed how nonchalant the elder seemed about the whole situation and it struck him as odd but he found no lie in the man's tone, not that it meant much but at the very least it served to provide him some relief. However, Gerhart had only promised the safety of the younger Emiya, speaking nothing of the older one, something that had not escaped Kiritsugu's notice. It was not surprising but it served to cement the gravity of the situation to the Magus Killer.

He looked at his adopted son, put on a relaxed demeanor and said, "Stay here for a while Shirou, I'll be back in a few." It had the desired effect on the boy and Shirou nodded in response.

"Okay old man."

Gerhart watched on impassively but had to stop himself from snorting out loud at the scene in front of him. '_That's if you come back Magus Killer.'_

Kiritsugu gave the boy one last smile and departed into the room at the end of the hall, disappearing from sight as the doors closed from behind him. Shirou had little reason to doubt the man but even he felt something was not quite right about the entire dilemma he was in. Had he known that both their lives were currently at stake perhaps he would have shown more control but since such was not the case he felt no restraint in satisfying his curiosity.

"Who are you?" Shirou asked the tall white robed figure leaning by the wall not too far from him. Had the man been any other magus the question would have been enough to bring forth the wrath of said person, especially considering the distinguished family he belonged to. Only one thing stopped that from happening, the simple promise to keep the boy safe. Anything else such as the fact that it was a child who asked the question and that he simply didn't know any better was inconsequential to the elder magus, but a man of his word he was, for now at least.

He let out a sigh of annoyance to ease his irritation and introduced himself. "I am Gerhart von Einzbern, current keeper of the Mystic Code and rare Artifacts vault found here child. Be sure to remember that."

Shirou nodded with childlike innocence unable to quite pick up on the magus' dislike of him so he continued to ask, "Mystic code?"

A small vein of annoyance popped on Gerhart's head. Was the boy truly ignorant of the world of magi to the point where he did not know what a mystic code was!? He found the revelation both surprising and infuriating and could not stop himself from reprimanding the child in front of him. "Are you not a magus!?"

Shirou was caught off guard by the man's question and it took some time before he was able to answer since even he was able to realize at this point that the man in front of him was not pleased with him. "I-I know a bit of magic but my magic studies haven't been going so well…" He lowered his voice as he continued unable to say that he lacked talent with any of the five elements and that his teaching sessions had been sporadic and far apart from one another due to his father's constant travels.

"Show me."

The read head opened his eyes in surprise and looked at the man in front of him, who now had his full attention on him as if he was judging his worth right here and now, and in many ways he was. Shirou had never been tested like this before on his magic without any preparations or warning beforehand so like many others would do he began to feel the rising panic from within. Still, he pushed them down and nodded in response to the man's request.

Shirou gulped and his eyes searched for something he could use to display what little magic he knew. His gaze finally stopped at a white vase set on a table near him. Without hesitation or consideration for the value of said object, as is the case with many children, he grabbed it and held it in front of him with both hands. He closed his eyes shut and was unable to see Gerhart raise a brow in curiosity as to what the boy had in plan for the item in his hands. Shirou took a breath and focused long and hard on the object in front of him. He stopped breathing and began the process of reinforcement on the vase. Despite the cold temperature found in the Einzbern residence Shirou could not help but feel a drop of sweat falling from his brow. He shut out everything from his mind that did not correspond with the process of pouring his prana into the vase and after what felt like hours to him, he was done.

He opened his eyes to find a vase that was not broken in the slightest and sighed in relief. He raised his eyes to meet the elder magus' gaze and spoke, "I'm done."

Gerhart took one long look at the object in front of him and said, "That's it?" Shirou, as tired as he was, nodded in confirmation. Seconds later Gerhart broke out in laughter, reverberating loudly within the great empty hall they were in. Shirou looked confused as the Einzbern continued to laugh, slowly but surely coming to the realization that he had failed somehow. How exactly he did not know for the reinforcement was perfect to him, seeing as how the vase hadn't shattered right in front of him as past failures had.

Moments later the elder magus finally began to quiet down though not all at once. "Reinforcement of all things?! BWAHAHA!" He held a hand to his head, trying to calm himself down, not forgetting that not too far from him lay a room where a decision of utmost importance was taking place. "What an excellent waste of my time." Finally down to chuckling, he composed himself and was surprised to see the annoyed face of Shirou Emiya glaring at him straight on.

"Oh yeah," challenged the boy, "Then show me what you can do then!"

The challenge and insolence brought forth by the child's bravado was enough to sap away any reserves of laughter that Gerhart might have had left in him. "Little boy," he spoke harshly, "I'll have you know that I am an average one and within these doors lies my treasury, no an armory if you will, of mystic codes that are all at my disposal to use whenever I feel the need to. Continue to speak to me in that manner and I will make sure that one of my treasures is the last thing you'll ever see!" He finished with a snarl startling the young boy into submission who could not help but take a step back from the magus in front of him. Despite not knowing what mystic codes were even he was aware of the term average one and the rarity as well as the danger they represented.

"Now then," Gerhart continued, "Putting your mediocre use of reinforcement aside, what is your elemental affinity?" Despite the ire in him that Shirou had caused he was still curious enough about him to continue his inquiry, wanting to learn all he could about the company that the Magus Killer had brought within his walls.

Shirou fidgeted as he answered, "I-I don't know." The few experiments done by him and his father to determine his elemental affinity had not yielded anything in the past and nothing had changed since then.

"You don't know?" Gerhart repeated, growing further exasperated by Shirou's answers each time he opened his mouth. Not asking for permission he reached out and grabbed the child's hand, immediately performing a diagnostic spell of sorts to give him the answer he wanted. Shirou was surprised by the action but did not object as the man began his inspection.

'_Honestly what fool doesn't know his own-'_

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he found out just what lay inside the boy.

* * *

Within the great chamber that lay beyond the great hall that Shirou and Gerhart were in, a great discussion was about to take place. The maid that had just brought in Kiritsugu Emiya closed the great wide doors as she departed from the room. In front of the Magus Killer sat three of the six most prominent figures of the Einzbern family but his focus was zeroed in on one and only one individual seated right in the center.

Jubstacheit von Einzbern.

Although he kept his expression neutral, the same could not be said for the three Einzbern elders in front of him all of whom were regarding him with looks of inquiry, open hostility and disdain. Finally, Jubstacheit decided to break the silent impasse and asked, "Tell us Kiritsugu Emiya, why did you destroy the Grail?"

The two other elders nodded in acknowledgment to the question, having already prioritized and made a list of what needed to be asked during this meeting. The man to whom the question was directed to was not surprised by the lack of formality on their part, having known the old geezer to be a straight to the point and no nonsense type of individual during his years at the Einzbern Castle. "The Grail was corrupted from within. I decided it was not for the best interests of the Einzbern family to allow it to be completed." He answered without missing a beat.

Jubstacheit could not help from snorting at that response, "Do tell how you arrived at that conclusion."

Kiritsugu continued, "The Grail…no rather something within the Grail manifested itself during my confrontation with one of the final masters of the War. It assumed the form of Irie…Iriesviel to communicate with me but once I uncovered its deception it was…"

He dragged on the silence that followed as he struggled to describe the entity that had appeared in front of him that day and showed him the visions that continued to haunt him in his nightmares.

"…Evil." He finished, having found no other word that could describe the being perfectly.

"Oh? And what proof do you have of this 'evil' existence that you claim to have found inside the Grail?" asked Markus von Einzbern, intrigued by the description that the Magus Killer of all people had given this entity.

Kiritsugu grimaced. "It sought nothing but the destruction and suffering of anything and everything around it, ultimately resulting in the fire that consumed a great part of the city where the ritual took place in. It-"

"Do not lie to us!" Aldric von Einzbern interrupted him, exclaiming, "How do we know that fire did not come about due to your own failed machinations!? We will ask you once again, what proof do you have of this corruption within the Grail?"

Kiritsugu remained silent for a bit, considering his options. He had known that this meeting would turn to a losing battle for him if he hoped to rely on mere arguments backed by words and no concrete evidence. Fortunately for him, he had one ace left in his sleeve for this occasion that he had foreseen would happen when the Einzbern elders fell back on their usual stubbornness.

"My magic circuits."

The three Einzbern magi sharpened their gaze upon hearing those words and Jubstacheit, leading the three broke the silence once again, "Explain."

"When the dark entity confronted me," Kiritsugu described, "it placed a curse on me, one that still runs in me and continues to eat away at me. The taint that is in me is centered around my magic circuits, take a look at them and you will see the proof you want."

The three elder magi looked at each other, contemplating how to proceed with mere looks. Ultimately, it was Jubstacheit who spoke, "It shall be done then." He tapped the table once and a different homunculus maid emerged from the door at the other end of the room. "Follow her and we shall make our decision once we receive the results."

Kiritsugu nodded in response and resigned himself to the invasive surgery that he would soon receive. If this did not convince them of the corrupted Grail then nothing would he believed, and he would go to great lengths to prove it, for the loss of his magic circuits was nothing to him if he could be given the chance to reunite with his daughter again. He followed the maid out of the room and into another where he hoped the truth would come to light and the Einzbern would see reason.

* * *

_**Back in the Hall…**_

"AVALON!? You have Avalon stored within you?!" Gerhart all but exclaimed in a mixture of surprise and fury.

Shirou shook in surprise at the man's outbreak but was unable to loose himself from the iron grip the magus had on him, "I-I don't know what you're talking about…", he honestly answered, unaware of the rare Noble Phantasm that lay inside of him due to his father's silence.

His grip on the boy hardened, "Are you even aware of the item you have!? Do you have any idea how many countless years I spent searching for that artifact and how many homunculi were spent just for the sake of recovering it!? I searched under every rock on Britain to locate it and bring glory to our house and here I find it again under the use of an ignorant child!? A child!?" To a bystander the look of disbelief on Gerhart's face would look like one found on a madman, one that caused Shirou to start trembling in fear of the man in front of him.

Gerhart was just about to continue shouting lividly at the poor boy when he was suddenly stopped by an abrupt image that popped in his head.

A sword.

In his ramblings, Gerhart had failed to notice that he was still performing the diagnostic spell on Shirou, peering deeply into the boy's subconscious and finally arriving at his elemental affinity. "A sword elemental?" he let out, "What is this…how can that be?"

He continued to check again to see if he had somehow made a mistake during the procedure but could find no error as he arrived at the same image again and again. The enraged look on his face gave way a completely perplexed one, so much that he could not stop himself from asking, "What are you boy?"

At that moment, when the elder magus had finally stopped his shouting, Shirou had managed to stop trembling but the sense of fear that Gerhart had instilled in him still remained. Slowly but surely he spoke, "I…I am Shirou Emiya."

A moment of silence passed between the two and finally the elder magus let go of the boy. Shirou heeded his first instinct and immediately decided to make a run for it, his sights set on the room where his father had gone off to. He took one step back and-

"Stay."

Gerhart uttered but one word and Shirou found that he could not move his body. His eyes widened in fear when he saw the small blade that Gerhart pulled out from under his elaborate robe. He could not move from the spot he stood rooted in and neither could he scream in terror of the weapon that was inches away from him. He closed his eyes at the last moment and-

"Make a copy of this."

Shirou slowly opened his eyes to see Gerhart hold out the blade in front of him, thankfully not attacking him with it as he had feared. "Huh?" he let out both in surprise and confusion at the Einzbern's request.

Gerhart clicked his tongue in irritation, "You heard me, make a copy of this." He did not enjoy having to repeat himself twice and the tone of voice he had used implied that there would not be a third time.

Shirou understood this and received the dagger from the man and held it in front of him. He had no idea where to begin but the piercing gaze from Gerhart told him that there was no room for failure or escape for that matter. He let out a sigh filled with exhaustion and fear, before he began to stare deep and hard into the dagger that was now in his hands. It had a golden hilt with inscriptions on it. He passed it over to one hand and held out the other one right next to it hoping the 'copy' would manifest itself if he tried hard enough.

And try he did. He held the grip of the dagger to tightly that his knuckles turned white, and even then he did not stop. As he looked deep into the weapon, he realized more and more things about it. The inscriptions on it were runes…the blade was formed from titanium…it was roughly fifty years old…its length was approximately twelve inches…

How the information came to him he did not know, what he did know however was that a massive migraine was starting to overtake him. He did not stop focusing on the dagger however, and kept on trying to dissect information from it. Words that he had never used before found themselves exiting his lips. "…concept of creation…imitating the skill of its making…accumulated years…"

Gerhart watched Shirou in silent contemplation. He did not stop him when he started sweating profusely. He did not blink when he started bleeding from his nose and nor did he attempt to help him when his eyes rolled to the back of his head and finally collapsed on the floor at his feet. Instead he let out a sigh of disappointment, having thought the child to be something different, something special even. He had been wrong it appeared and the results proved that as the boy lay deathly still on the floor. He was not dead, but he was definitely at its door. He briefly remembered what he had promised the Magus Killer and reluctantly cast a healing spell towards Shirou. It was enough to stabilize the boy and Avalon would take care of the rest. Gerhart bent down to pick up his dagger, disgusted by the failure that was Shirou Emiya.

"So much for that experiment." He picked up his weapon and wiped the blood smeared on it on the child's coat only to realize one thing. It was not his dagger that he was holding. Raising it to meet his eye he found himself holding an entirely new dagger. It had a golden hilt, a titanium blade and had a length that was approximately twelve inches. Its overall design was crude compared to the original but even the runes could be found here, as horribly engraved as they may be. Gerhart could not help but let out a laugh of astonishment at the sight. '_It worked! It worked!'_

This was not gradation air, not this. This was something different, something superior, and above all something unique. The Einzbern magus picked up his original dagger from the ground and continued to compare the two, keeping track of what was different and what was not. Before long, he set his eyes back on the boy who had yet to stir from his position. Gerhart snapped his finger and a homunculus maid appeared from behind him soon enough.

"Yes Gerhart-sama?" she asked in a dull monotone, as was the default for many of the Einzbern homunculi.

"Take this boy to the infirmary and fix him up," he ordered her, "Also change him into something more elegant and burn the rags he's currently wearing when you're done."

"Right away." The maid replied, bowing as she did so and carrying Shirou over her shoulder as if he weighed nothing. She turned away from her master and disappeared the next moment, already working on the orders she had been given. Gerhart placed both daggers that were currently in his possession back in his robe and looked towards the room at the end of the hall. He proceeded to make his way there, never dropping the smirk that was slowly forming on his face.

'_For better or for worse this will change everything.'_

* * *

**_Well there goes ch. 2 since In Flight, Chaos Theory, and Path of the King have been updated i felt the urge to do so as well. I'm crossing my fingers for From Fake Dreams to follow soon so this can be the best week for some FSN fanfic reading. Plz feel free to share any other awesome fsn fanfics if u know them and yeah if this chapter doesnt prove to you how magi tend to be jerks then I honestly don't know what will. Nothing ever comes easy and let it never be said that the road to awesomeness is not without its hurdles especially for a certain red haired protagonist. As for the summary for the fic i got some people saying I should change it but I wanna hear from others too, what do u think,is it a clever intro or just plain crap. Thanks for following this and most importantly reviewing cuz seriously guys its what keeps us writers writing._**

**_Oh yeah as for your review McCabeRz, I HEAR AND OBEY YOUR MAJESTY! Sorry i had a little code geass moment there when i read your review XD. But i think Shirou has enough troubles without the ladies jumping in right now and Ilya is up next chapter so yeah._**

**_As for the OCs they were a necessary evil since i find it hard for one guy to run the whole joint otherwise it would have gone like this:_**

**_Acht: So do we kill the bastard?_**

**_Homunculi guards/maids: ..._**

**_Random tumbleweeds roll by..._**

**_..._**

**_..._**

**_..._**

**_Acht: Alright we kill the bastard then._**

**_THE END._**

**_Not fun right? Relax though they have mostly played their role already._**

**_Until then Crazylazy007 out._**


	3. Chapter 3

The three Einzbern magi sat comfortably in their own chairs as they awaited the verdict that would deliver the truth to them. It was meant to be a silent wait until then, neither of the other two magi daring enough to break the silence held by Jubstacheit, for despite the influence and power they held they knew their place, and head of the family, well enough to know when to stay their lips. Which was exactly why the following interruption surprised all of them.

The doors slammed open without warning and immediately alarmed the three elders in the room. Without realizing what he had just done, Gerhart walked in without a care in the world, pushing aside the maid who had stood in his way and attempted to halt him long enough for a proper introduction into the chamber. A futile effort from the poor homunculus, who did not know just how eager and zealous the elder mage could be when set upon a new discovery.

"I have news to report," Gerhart stated casually and yet he could not hide the pleased grin that he currently wore one that matched that of an eager child who had found a new toy, that is if said child happened to be a powerful magus who lacked a complete moral compass when it came to pleasing his curiosity. Sadly such was the norm for many if not all of whom dared call themselves magi, and the ones present were no exception to the rule.

Aldric however, found his insolence infuriating nonetheless, displaying clear anger in his features. Markus only sighed in response to the man's antics that he had seen too many of, while Jubstacheit would have likely placed his face in his palm if he had any less dignity and so he settled for a minor headshake at his fellow elder's behavior. Such moments were not rare after all, but still irritating to say the least. Were the man not a valued member of their court and any less proficient at his role of acquiring mystic codes and rare artifacts, he would have faced the full repercussions for taking such an action towards the three esteemed magi that sat before him. Much to their chagrin though, he held as much influence as any member of that table save for their current head of course.

Despite that, Aldric, much to the surprise of no one, was the first to voice his displeasure. "How dare you show your face around here! Are you not aware that it is you who we partially hold responsible for the current matter on our hands!?"

Gerhart merely waved off the accusations of his junior, having learned to tolerate the usual outbursts of the youngest of the six members of their table. Although the age gap within them was merely a few decades, it was enough for the elder of the two to treat Aldric as he would treat a younger annoying sibling. "This matter you speak off is of little concern to me and the reasons for my silence were no different from yours Aldric, or was I the only one in charge of supervising the progress of the grail?"

Aldric bit his tongue in silence. That assignment had not fallen to Gerhart alone, a fact that did not escape him.

"Enough." Jubstacheit commanded, taking note of Aldric's silence as a confirmation of Gerhart's accusation and filing the thought away for later discussion. "What brings you here Gerhart?"

Upon hearing the tone of voice of the head of the family, Gerhart was reminded once again that he was treading on thin ice. Dealing with Aldric was one thing but Jubstacheit was a different matter, one that demanded his respect. His leash only as long as the Head of the House wished it to be after all. He composed himself and answered, "I apologize for my behavior but I found that this could not wait." He reached into his robe and pulled out the two daggers found there and displayed them to the present magi, laying them out on the table for all to see. "Tell me, what do you think lies in front of you?"

Markus spoke first, "Is this another one of your discoveries Gerhart? If so I have to admit I am disappointed." He shook his head pitifully at the display in front of him. "Truly I was expecting something along the likes of a Noble Phantasm for you to act so brashly." He remained unimpressed and the sentiment was shared by all of them at the table who were unaware of the value of the items in front of them.

Gerhart smiled inwardly at that comment. "As a matter of fact, I have managed to retrieve a certain Noble Phantasm of ours so thank you for reminding me Markus, but for now let us focus on what is here in front of us shall we?"

That got everyone's attention, and even Aldric calmed down enough to inspect the weapons in front of him. "There's nothing special here, just two similar blades of little value!" Unsurprisingly, it did not last long though his thoughts were shared by everyone else present.

"Exactly. This blade," Gerhart smiled as he raised the one with the more crude appearance, "is a copy of the one next to it. A mediocre one at best, I'll agree but tell me does this feel like gradation air to you?" He passed the dagger to Jubstacheit, who was curious enough to humor Gerhart. What he found out when he closely inspected the weapon in his grasp surprised him. The other two elders did not miss this and were now more curious than ever as to what was so special about the dagger.

The Einzbern Head threw a questioning look at the man in front of him and asked, "How did you acquire this?"

Once Gerhart knew that he had all their attention, he regained some of his bravado from before and explained, "This is not one of my creations I'm afraid since it came from a very unlikely source, one that we must make sure falls right into our hands and no one else's."

As impatient as ever, Aldric interrupted him before he could elaborate any further, "If that's the case then tell us who or what this 'source' is or is that something you'd like to keep quiet about as well?"

Gerhart shot him a glare but decided to continue anyways, eagerly awaiting their reactions when he spoke the following word, "It is the Magus Killer's son."

* * *

Darkness gave when to light as Shirou slowly gained back his consciousness. It also helped that the room he was currently in was insufferably bright. White adorned all of the room from the chairs, furniture and to the clothing he now wore. '_Wait_…'

Shirou gave himself a quick check and suddenly realized that he was now dressed in an entirely new outfit. Gone were the bulky clothes that had guarded him from the cold weather and instead he was now dressed in what appeared to be a miniature version of what Gerhart wore, a white robe with traces of red on it, adorning the cloth to give it a more regal look. Shirou quickly wondered what had happened to his clothes but then thought of the more important question. '_Where am I?' _He recalled the events up to where he tried to make a copy of the dagger, the immense paint that came out of that effort, and nothing else after that.

He looked around him and saw what looked like a doctor's office, with him resting on top of a comfortable bed with sheets that matched the room. He began to slowly look towards an exit out of the room, and his eyes came upon an unexpected surprise.

A girl.

Standing by the door, peeking her head in and observing him with equal surprise stood a silver haired, red eyed girl. She appeared to be no older than him and continued to stare at him with great curiosity. Neither of them had seen another one like them, Shirou being accustomed to the many brunettes and brown eyed girls that he saw in class while the girl in front of him had never seen another child period due to the Einzbern Head's instructions that she remain isolated after her father's failure. Shirou was captivated by her unique appearance while the other was fascinated by the appearance of someone like her, a playmate perhaps.

Both children remained silent as they continued to watch one another, until Shirou finally decided to break the silence between the two by awkwardly raising his arm and waving at her, "Hi…" He managed to greet her but the response he got was unexpected. The girl was snapped out of the curious state she was previously in and returned the greeting, remembering the manners her mother had carefully taught her as a lady of the Einzbern family. She stepped out in front of him and made an elaborate bow as she slightly raised the hem of her skirt.

"I am Illyasviel von Einzbern, a pleasure to meet you."

Having stepped out into full view, Shirou now had a good look at who it was that he was dealing with. She wore a white dress, elaborately adorned with silver colored linings at the hem of her skirt. Above all, she looked like a porcelain doll with her fair white complexion that Shirou had never seen before prior to today. Still, it was the Einzbern part of her name that took most of his attention, even more so now that he recalled his unpleasant encounter with Gerhart, who also bore the same surname. It took a moment for him to gather her thoughts before he could reply. Shaking his head, he introduced himself, "My name is Shirou Emiya."

Illyasviel's eyes widened at the mention of the word Emiya, immediately recognizing it as that of her father who had not returned for a very long time. She turned her attention to him once more and immediately closed the distance between them as she ran up to him. Clasping his hand with her own, she asked excitedly, "Do you know my Papa?"

Shirou was taken aback by the sudden action taken by her, not to mention the unexpected question she had asked of him. Kiritsugu had never mentioned anything about any other family of his during the time they were together, so the red head boy had no idea how to answer. Therefore he asked the obvious first, "Who?"

"My Papa," she repeated once again, hopeful that the boy in front of her could give her the answer she hoped for, "Kiritsugu Emiya."

Once again the girl had managed to surprise him, this time by revealing the name of her father. Kiritsugu Emiya was not a common name by any means, so the boy immediately guessed that she was referring to his own guardian. "You mean my old man?" He asked, perplexed by the new revelation about a possible relative of his adoptive father.

"Old man?" Illyasviel pouted, unaware of anything but the literal meaning behind those words. "No, no," she shook her head in a childlike manner that was befitting of her before continuing, "My Papa is big and strong," she let go of his hand and made a wide gesture with her arms, "he's not old."

"Er…" Shirou did not know what to say, especially since that was not a very detailed description that he could match to his guardian. Still, he went with his gut feeling and replied, "Yes I know him."

The red eyed girl's smile widened upon hearing that. She cheered happily as she did so, "Yay! I knew Papa would come back for me! Uncle Acht lied to me!"

She became lost in her own world once again before suddenly stopping once she realized something, "Wait…", she contemplated, "then who are you?" Cocking her head to one side she looked at the boy in front of her with renewed curiosity now that she realized that he bore the Emiya name.

Now it was Shirou's turn to think, and seeing as how she appeared to be his adoptive father's daughter, the answer was obvious. "I guess… that makes me your b-"

"Butler." Illyasviel finished for him.

"Yes butler- wait…what?" Shirou raised a brow, deeply confused as to how she had arrived at such a conclusion.

"Butler." The girl repeated, as if it were the most glaringly obvious thing in the world. "Mama once told me that you can name a butler whatever name you like so Papa must have named you after him of course." She nodded sagely, considering her logic sound.

"Er… Listen Illyasvie-"

"Call me Ilya, Shirou", the girl declared proudly.

Shirou hesitated at first, then continued, "Ilya I'm not quite sure how else to say this… but I'm not your butler."

"You're right." Ilya agreed.

"I am?" Shirou asked curiously, although he felt relieved that she had finally understood him.

"Indeed," she nodded, eyeing him speculatively, "you don't look the part…so we'll have to do something about that first." Slowly but surely, a grin began to form on her face, growing proportionally to the dread that the red head was beginning to feel in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

_**Back in the Meeting Room**_

Silence.

That was all anyone could offer to the answer that had been given.

It did not last long however, before three voices broke the monotony that had followed Gerhart's declaration.

"Explain."

It was the one word that had escaped everyone's lips and the task fell to Gerhart to do so. Not one to waste time, he spoke the following, mustering up the words and etiquette that he would need to convince them of his proposal, "It is as I've said. The boy that the Magus Killer has brought with him houses much potential that must be brought over to our side." He gestured to the daggers once again. "The feat you see before you is something that he achieved at the mere age of eight. Can you imagine what else could be possible should he be raised accordingly as a magus? What he could achieve in the next few years? Or shall I say… within the next decade?"

That line caught their attention and all of them were aware of what he meant by it. Having sent a few of their agents past the eyes of the Church to inspect the aftermath of the Holy Grail had been a rewarding task due to the news that was received. The next Holy Grail War would not be held in 60 years but in a mere decade. The news was by far the only consolation that the Einzbern had received out of the mess that had resulted from the 4th one.

"This is foolish!" Aldric exclaimed, "We do not need another outsider in our affairs, and certainly not another Emiya!" The act of hiring outside help had been a huge blow to their pride and it had not rewarded them like they had believed it would have after all. Aldric was not one to forget and certainly not one to forgive. "Take what you need from the boy and dispose of them both, go no further than that I say."

"It is not that simple." Gerhart answered in turn, "his origin alone makes him worth observing and it has not yet developed to the point where I could simply 'take' it and be pleased with the results, if that is even possible."

Markus voiced his thoughts next, "How much time do you believe it would take for him to become sufficiently prepared?" He did not need to explain as to what the boy was to be groomed for since all there knew the answer.

"Surely you do not agree with this!?" Aldric exclaimed.

"Under my supervision, it should not take longer than four… no five years to be an acceptable magus," Gerhart answered, ignoring Aldric's outburst.

"You speak with some hesitation there Gerhart, continue." Jubstacheit declared, having remained silent to carefully weigh the pros and cons of Gerhart's proposal.

Gerhart grimaced, "His talent is purely focused on the single area you see before you. I'm afraid he has no other redeemable gifts besides it." He had hoped to downplay the fact that the boy was perhaps even incapable of using any other form of magic besides the one that he had shown, but the truth would arise sooner or later with observant magi such as themselves. The sooner it did, perhaps the less weight it would bear on Gerhart's judgment.

"BAH!" Aldric sneered, "And you would have such a person join us!? Are you mad?!"

Both Markus and Jubstacheit remained silent, yet their thoughts were not hard to discern given how they had not disagreed with Aldric's outburst.

"Mad?" Gerhart repeated, "Perhaps I am." The answer surprised the three elders in front of him but Gerhart did not stop there.

"And if that is so then it is because we are all to blame here. It is our cumulative failures that has driven me to this point. Tell me how long have we been trying to reclaim the Third Magic? How much time have we spent here deliberating and searching for any way to obtain it? How many homunculi and how much funds were spent in that cause? And how many more years and further resources will we throw away continuing to reach for that goal?"

The three elders remained silent.

"Who else will we sacrifice for that aim!?" Gerhart exclaimed, "We lost the greatest magus to grace our house, the esteemed Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern so that we would reach that goal did we not!? And yet… here we are with nothing to show for it but silence and regret."

He faced Aldric and continued, "Will you take up this cause next Aldric? Will you be the one to bring us victory or is that your role Markus?" The second elder defended himself, "I-"

"No," Gerhart interrupted him, "You will not. I believe that the past wars have shown more than enough proof that we are unfit for that role. It is why we tried to bend the rules to our liking during the Third War and why we hired the Magus Killer during the Fourth."

The truth was a bitter pill to swallow for all of them there and yet facts were facts.

"Here I present to you a chance to turn the odds in our favor," Gerhart declared, "and here you are labeling me the mad fool. Ha! If I am then I would much rather play the part of a mad fool than continue in this endless cycle of failure and stagnancy that we continue to find ourselves in-"

"Enough." Jubstacheit solemnly declared. All eyes turned to him then, ending whatever Gerhart had left to say.

Silence followed. The mood was thick enough to cut with a knife and yet a decision had to be reached. Unexpectedly, three knocks from the doors behind them broke the silent impasse. "Enter." Jubstacheit commanded.

The maid that had left with the elder Emiya appeared from behind the doors and bowed before the four of them. "I have the results concerning Kiritsugu Emiya's magic circuits."

With all the commotion regarding Shirou, the three elder magi had nearly forgotten about the Magus Killer. Gerhart looked confused and just realized that the mentioned individual was not anywhere to be seen in the room. He began to open his mouth to ask but not before Jubstacheit did so before him.

"Tell us."

* * *

_**Elsewhere...**_

Shirou, although eight, had already taken part of a few unique experiences that other normal people would find difficult to connect with. Ranging from surviving a catastrophic fire to finding out that his guardian could use magic, his life seemed to be filled with curveballs that were not of the norm to say the least. Now, dressed in a black and elegant tuxedo with a white shirt underneath he had the pleasure of adding being a butler to that list.

"How did you even get this?" asked a perplexed Shirou.

"Manners Shirou, " Ilya chided him, clearly enjoying herself and barely containing the glee that came of having your own personal butler right in front of you.

"Er…forgive me milady?" Shirou finished rather lamely having seen no way to win this battle, considering how he had lost the one with his previous clothes on the line. The less that was said of that event the better he believed, as he tried hard to forget how she had pinned him down by force, removed his robe and ripped off his-

"Come on now my faithful butler." Ilya grabbed him by the hand and led him out of the room, smiling all the way as she did so, already deeply engrossed in the role of master and servant. "Let me show you around."

'_Why is she this strong?' _Shirou wondered as he found himself following her lead yet again.

They continued down a hallway, with Shirou eyeing everything around him from the expensive looking vases to the occasional carved figure on the walls that he passed. It was a new experience for him and yet the girl walked on, humming happily and unfazed by all of it.

"Hmm, I haven't been to this room before…let's check it out!" she declared pointing towards the room at the end of the hall, clearly excited by the prospect of discovery as all young children were.

"Sure why not? I mean… if it pleases you milady." Shirou said, having already given in to his role as her butler at this point. She smiled at his answer and continued forward towards their destination. Shirou returned to the task of absorbing his surroundings, fascinated by how lavish if not foreign some of the things he saw were. So absorbed was he in his observations that he failed to notice that Ilya had come to an abrupt stop by the entrance of the room that they had arrived at. He inevitably bumped into her purely by accident, causing both him and her to stumble backwards a bit.

"Sorry." He quickly apologized, but Ilya did not spare him a look, instead focusing long and hard at what lay inside the room out of Shirou's sight. The redhead looked at her closely and noticed the sudden change in her demeanor, gone was the vibrant girl that he had met, who now wore a blank expression as her hands found her way towards her face. It only became worse as what appeared to be tears began to form in the corner of her eyes, spurning the young boy into action.

"Hey! Are you alright? What's wrong?" Shirou asked worriedly grabbing the girl by the shoulders, concerned that he may have hurt her somewhat when he bumped into her. The answer that he received was a slow nod followed by her raising her right arm and pointing inside the room.

"Papa."

'_Papa? It can't be…" _Letting her go, he looked inside the room to see just what had driven Ilya to tears.

Shirou's blood froze cold.

He had been expecting several things, perhaps a frightening figure that had spooked the young girl or Gerhart even, given how the man absolutely frightened him. What he had _not_ expected to see was his guardian lying deathly still on the bed in front of him.

* * *

"I take it that this was not the result you were hoping for now is it?" Gerhart asked the three elders in front of him.

None dared to answer him for it was clearly obvious, their silence spoke volumes after all. Jubstacheit held a contemplative look on his face that was shared by both Aldric and Markus, who shared the feelings that were currently running in him but dared not show.

Disbelief.

Anger.

And above all shame.

Not towards their actions that would inevitably curse a man to a wretched death, not towards their refusal of letting a father see his daughter, and most certainly not towards their constant efforts to tip the scales in their favor even if it took an outsider or the illegal summon of an abnormal servant. What hurt their pride the most was that all their efforts had resulted in naught but failure, an end result that was no one's fault but their own. In the end it was not the Tohsakas nor the Makiri that had foiled them in the past two Grail Wars but their own greed instead. Kiritsugu Emiya's words had not been one of a charlatan but of one who spoke the truth. Indeed, what he referred to as taint matched the very same essence that was found on one of the previous war's servants.

Avenger.

All present were aware of the servant and how it had come to be summoned for the war. By bending the rules a bit if course. No magus worth his salt would try any less if the prize was great enough, and the Einzbern were not just magi but utterly desperate ones as well. The rest of the story does not need to be told for the grim faces in the room spoke it all.

"To think that a pathetic servant like that would be at the root of this." Markus sighed, rubbing his forehead. "It's unimaginable."

He had summed up all their thoughts with those two sentences alone but Aldric something to add, "I'd like to point out that we still do not know whether this substance came from the grail itself or if the Magus Killer simply encountered it elsewhere."

"And cursed himself with it?" Markus asked disbelievingly, "Why yes that's a perfectly legitimate point you have there Aldric."

Aldric fumed at the response, "I'm merely saying that we lack enough evidence to clear the Magus Killer of any foul play on his part. We should be at the core of this problem, personally investigating the grail ourselves instead of merely entertaining the thoughts of unlikely possibilities."

"That is not possible anymore." Markus countered, "Soon after the fallout of the 4th War, I had our homunculi inspect the leylines that support the grail to inform us of the early arrival of the next Grail War that we already know of. But sending them again is not feasible due to two reasons."

"Do tell." Aldric sneered, unwilling to believe that there was anything that could stop them from getting their way when push came to shove.

"The dogs of the church are currently there in full force dealing with the aftermath of the fire on their own and they have strictly prohibited any magi or their representatives from getting near the area under the threat of their executors. I have not the slightest idea as to how long it will remain that way but I suspect it will be so for quite some time. As always they have no reason to love us and neither do we."

"Tch!" Aldric scoffed at the answer he was given, but reluctantly accepted it given the circumstances and how anathema the whole issue of the fire had been to their reputation as a whole, by jeopardizing the knowledge of the existence of magic which trumped the actual loss of lives that had taken place. Such were the priorities when it came to the world of magi after all.

"The second reason is a more pressing one." Markus continued, almost hesitating, "Lady Barthomeloi… she is not pleased."

Those lines were enough to strike a chord of worry within everyone. It was an unnerving thought to have the vice-director of the Clock Tower breathe down on you, but to have it actually happen was a nightmare all its own. One did not simply go against the vice director and come out unscathed after all. None present needed any further explanation as to what her reasons for being livid were given the scandal and trouble the fire had placed on them. Besides the agents of the Church, enforces from the Clocktower were sent to deal with the witnesses of the event that had befallen a huge part of Fuyuki city. By now it was clear that the option of personally investigating the matter themselves would be cut off from them for quite some time until things returned to the norm.

"And so we find ourselves here again gentlemen." Gerhart finally spoke up, tired of the banter that he was being kept out of. However, he knew enough to get the gist of it and decided to push forward his agenda while the time was right. "How much longer can we stand to keep up this routine because quite frankly I grow sick and tired of it." He spat, genuinely mocking the entire Einzbern family for the sordid state of affairs they had placed themselves in. The blow to their prides struck true and hard, making him the target of two well-deserved glares. Only one individual refrained from doing so and it was the same one who had remained silent all this time, contemplating the final and best decision that could be derived from their current predicament. He realized that they were being led by Gerhart and yet there was little that could be done but reach for the most optimal path to solve their problems as quickly and efficiently as possible, no matter whose plan it was.

"What do you have in mind Gerhart?" Jubstacheit finally asked, drawing the attention of the rest of the committee. Although the wording was different the message was clear for all of them to grasp.

What do we do now?

Had Gerhart been a lesser magus he would have laughed and added more oil to the fire that was currently burning away at the Einzbern's reputation, judging them for turning to him out of desperation. Perhaps then he would have lost the opportunity to move forward with his plan due to the arrogance that was present in so many magi nowadays. As fate would have it however, he was far from being one. Despite it all, he could not stop the smirk that grew on his face as he laid his plans forth regarding the future of the boy known as Shirou Emiya.

* * *

Darkness.

That was all that was present and everything else absent from his sight.

Exhaustion.

That was all his body felt at the moment, despite the lack of movement on his part.

It was an all too familiar feeling to the Magus Killer, whose job held the constant hazard of falling unconscious all too often. Despite his current state it was better than the alternative, being dead that is. Fighting off the drowsiness and struggling to open his eyes which felt as if they were being held shut by weights, he slowly fought to welcome the rays of bright light from the bedroom he was currently.

'_Papa.'_

A small whisper, almost unheard, broke his concentration for a while. He had heard that voice before, he was sure of it but given his current state his mind could not pin the voice down to any one person. Despite his body's protest to ignore it and continue on the task of waking and getting up, he found himself unable to simply do so. A nagging feeling at the back of his mind continued to tell him that he had heard that voice before but for the life of him he just did not know where.

'_Papa!'_

That voice….it was so unnervingly familiar to the man and yet… it couldn't be.

At long last the Magus Killer gave one last effort and managed the feat of opening his eyes, welcoming the moderately bright light of the room as if it were detrimental to his sight, wincing in response and leading him to believe that he had been unconscious for quite some time now. Once he recovered the full use of his sight however, there came another surprise for him to adjust to.

His daughter.

Silence reigned supreme in the moments that followed, as he slowly reached an arm out for the white haired figure that resembled Ilya so much. Having endured many failed attempts at rescuing her before, the cynical part of his mind refused to acknowledge that this was real. He cupped the right side of her face, feeling the warmth that emanated from her cheek as well as the tears that fell from her ruby colored eyes onto his hand as he did so. She moved closer to him and grasped his hand with her own, confirming for herself the very same truth that the man had yet to accept.

"You're really here," Ilya choked out, "Papa."

Unable to hold back any longer she ran straight into his arms, silently sobbing and hoping for all it was worth that he was truly there. "This… this isn't a dream," she let out, "is it?"

"No…This is real." The man answered, half sobbing as he embraced her tightly in his arms. He was greatly relieved that this was not another falsehood or illusion like the nightmare that the anomaly within the Grail had shown him many nights before. No, this was his daughter Illyasviel von Einzbern who now stood in his arms crying her heart out for the father she had just regained in her life. He held her there for a while before noticing someone else in the room out of the corner of his eye.

"Shirou?" he asked, surprised by the appearance of his other child. "Where…How did you get here?"

"Erm…" the red headed boy scratched his head and gave the best answer he could give considering the circumstances, "it's a long story." He chuckled sheepishly at the end and reprimanded himself inwardly for not having left them alone for a while. He should have slipped out while they hadn't noticed him yet but given the surprise of finding his adoptive father passed out in a random bedroom and how the girl had pushed past him to wake him up first, there just hadn't been an opportunity for him to act. Nonetheless, he was happy for them despite not fully understanding what was going on but even he was smart enough to recognize a heartfelt reunion when he saw one.

The soft curious gaze his guardian had on him lasted only for a few moments before it quickly vanished. In its place remained only the cold hard gaze he had only seen on him once before. The abrupt change caught Shirou by surprise, so much that it took a few moments for him to realize that the look was not directed at him but past him instead. The red headed boy gulped reflexively and turned around to see the target of his father's ire.

He nearly wished he hadn't. For right behind him stood the three homunculi guards from before in all their intimidating glory, with the nearest one looking down on Shirou directly with the same piercing crimson colored eyes that they all appeared to share. He was reminded of Gerhart all too soon causing him to immediately backpedal towards his guardian, who immediately reached out for Shirou and grabbed him by the shoulder. In the blink of an eye he lifted himself out of the bed, pushed both Ilya and Shirou behind him and stood between the three homunculi and his family.

"What do you want?" Kiritsugu asked the three, making sure there was enough distance between them and keeping all of them in his field of vision. There were some things that an assassin never forgot and it was situations like these that called them to the surface, particularly so when given the dire circumstances he was in. He was unarmed, tired, and still suffering from the effects of the curse that slowly ate away at his vitality.

But he was a father. That alone made everything else but the well-being of his family insignificant. That much he was certain of and it was a part of him that he would not change. Not now, nor ever for that matter.

"At ease Magus Killer." The first and foremost of the three guards monotonously stated, "The master of the house wishes to see you."

"All of you." He added towards the ends, eyeing the two children in the room.

It surprised Kiritsugu Emiya that Jubstacheit would want to see not just him but all of his family at once. He wondered just what the elder magus wanted with them, and just what in particular had drawn his attention to Shirou, who was now wearing an outfit completely different from one he had before entering the manor. Whatever it was he doubted it could be any good given the fact that these were not rational human beings that he was dealing with but magi instead, who often followed a logic different from the norm. Still, he thought, the fact that he remained alive was a plus in Jubstacheit's favor, even if only a relatively minor one. The deciding factor though was that he was in no condition to face the three homunculi in front of him while protecting the children behind him, ultimately leading him to make his decision.

"Lead the way."

* * *

The doors opened wide into the chamber where the committee of the four Einzbern elders sat. Entering the room were those who had been called forward.

Kiritsugu Emiya.

Ilyasviel von Einzbern.

And above all, Shirou Emiya. Four pairs of eyes immediately locked on to the boy and though it lasted but a mere second it was enough for the experienced assassin to catch it and immediately get the feeling that something was off about this meeting. He did not know what exactly but he instinctively knew that it could not be any good. Which was exactly why the next following words surprised him to no end.

"Welcome," Gerhart declared, rising from his seat among the table. "new members of the Einzbern family."

* * *

**Finally I managed to get wrap up the prologue with this massive chapter (for me at least) which I honestly did not imagine being this long. As for those that may think that Kiritsugu half sobbing was a bit too much for a badass like him well it's like Columbus from the awesome movie Zombieland once said: Take away a man's son, you've truly given him nothing left to lose. Except that it's his daughter in this case and well u get the gist. So yea the Einzbern fellas didn't take the whole situation too well but yea that's what u get when u try to bend the rules. Karma can be a total buzzkill sometimes right? The chapters following this will cover Shirou's new lifestyle under his new uncles, though with family like that who needs enemies right? Relax though the OCs have done their part and will be more or less largely nonexistent from now.  
**

**That aside it's been a while hasn't it? Well that's what happens when u get fired, rehired, and end up having to quit ur job anyways due to college starting up again. Funny how that works. That aside I got ahold of the latest Fire Emblem game for the 3ds (which is awesome btw) as well as Persona 4 Golden so yeah. Finally got around to watching Mahou Shoujo Madoka after getting over the fact that it was well… a mahou shoujo anime. The phrase NEVER judge a book by its cover fits this series well particularly so after ep. 3, so if u haven't watched it already my friend you're doing yourself a disservice, trust me. **

**This past week has been awesome with From Fake Dreams, Chaos Theory and Birth by Fire among updating among other great fics. If u haven't read those then get to it cuz they deserve it and we're all here for a good fanfic to read so why not? And thnx to everyone kind enough to send me a fanfic recommendation to read. To top it off,and I know that I'm late to the party, I just heard that Fate Stay Night is getting a remake done by UFOTABLE!**

***FANGIRL SQUEAL***

**Er…I mean *Clears throat***

"**YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

**Ah and last but not least sorry to those who left a question or something that needed a reply since I haven't gotten around to those yet with all the stuff going on, not to mention that stupid govt. shutdown that still going on here. I'm getting to those ASAP and as is always the case thank you guys for reading, subscribing and reviewing, cuz u know that's what keeps my sword hand typing- I mean my typing hand twitching. Wait...  
**

**ImmortalSheep: Honestly not too long ago I didn't even know what Beast's Lair was. My initial reaction was, "Beast's Lair? Hmmm... sounds kinky." xD **

**McCabeRz: Lolz that sounds like it was awesomely hilarious. As for the women troubles that will inevitably enter Shirou's life, it's a work in progress but I'm getting there. **

**Until next time**

**Crazylazy007 out.**


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